Sodick AG400LH

The Sodick AG400LH is a large-format wire EDM machine from Sodick's premium AG series, configured with the LH (large height) designation that provides extended Z-axis travel for machining tall workpieces such as thick die blocks, extrusion dies, and aerospace structural components. The AG400LH targets shops whose workpieces regularly approach or exceed the Z-axis capacity of standard wire EDM machines — a common requirement in heavy stamping die work, large progressive dies for automotive body components, and energy sector part manufacturing where material thickness can exceed 300 mm.

Sodick's linear motor drive system is standard across the AG series, and the AG400LH delivers this technology at the large-format scale. Linear motor drives on the X, Y, U, and V axes eliminate the ballscrew backlash and wear that compromise positioning accuracy on conventional machines over time, maintaining the AG400LH's geometric accuracy throughout its service life. At large workpiece heights, where the wire must maintain parallelism through substantial material, the consistent axis positioning of linear motors becomes even more critical — wire taper error caused by axis positioning inconsistencies compounds over the Z-axis height of the workpiece.

The AG400LH's digital solid-state generator delivers high cutting speeds while maintaining surface integrity. At the thick workpiece heights targeted by the LH configuration, flushing efficiency becomes a dominant factor in cutting performance. Sodick addresses this with optimized high-pressure flushing through the upper and lower diamond guides, and the machine's dielectric management system maintains consistent flush pressure and fluid conductivity across long machining cycles. The generator's adaptive control compensates for the changing gap conditions that occur as wire deflection and flushing conditions vary at different heights in the cut.

Automatic wire threading in the AG400LH is Sodick's submerged AWT system, which can re-thread the wire with the work tank flooded — an important capability when running long unmanned cycles on thick parts where wire breaks are more frequent due to the increased stress of cutting through tall material. The submerged AWT system can be configured for automatic restart: if the wire breaks during an unmanned cycle, the machine automatically re-threads and resumes cutting from the break point, maximizing spindle utilization during lights-out operation.

The AG400LH is controlled by Sodick's LN (Linear iQ) CNC system with full access to Sodick's condition database for thick workpiece cutting. Sodick's database includes specialized conditions for tall-section cutting that account for reduced flushing efficiency and increased wire tension requirements at height. The control's automatic parameter generation outputs a complete cutting condition set — first cut, skim passes, taper angles if required — after the operator inputs material type, workpiece height, wire diameter, and target surface finish. This makes it practical for operators without deep EDM expertise to achieve good results on large, expensive workpieces where trial and error is not an acceptable process.